Award-Winning Author of Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed; Growing Up with Undiagnosed Autism shares her book, life, and insight into the mind of children and adults on the autism spectrum.

WHO DEFINITES NORMAL? Monsters: I Am Legend: The book was more sad than scary

After finishing, I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson, I’ve come to the conclusion I have a complete misunderstand of the horror genre. I am fascinated by monsters,and all my fictional stories include demons, ghosts, giants, and other supernatural creatures. I didn’t think I liked horror until I realized that I truly enjoy all things that give me the creeps. Weird, right?

What makes horror, horror? Me: Clearly, no idea. But, I am beginning to suspect that it is a highly individualized thing. What is horrific to one individual may not be to another. For me, I Am Legend, was not at all scary, but a very sad book—a look at the human condition, at a man trying to survive his own loneliness. The main character, Robert Neville may be physically fighting against vampires, but truly he is battling his own demons, his own monsters. I think what makes this book horror is that it is horrific to the main character as he realizes he has become the monster.

There was one line in particular that really caught my attention. And I think it is fitting to us as “normal” human beings, and those of us or may lie a little more on the outside of what society considers “normal.” Who decides what is normal anyway?

Robert Neville finds himself in a world filled with vampires —both dead ones, and living ones. Living ones, those who are infected with the vampire “germ” but have not yet died and rose as something else. Being the last of his “kind,” Robert realizes he is “…the abnormal one now. Normalcy was a majority concept, the standard of many and not the standard of just one man.”

Granted, the fictional character is only one man—the last of his kind left. But this highlights an interesting concept, and one I think we are on the brink of in our own world. Normal, defined by the majority. However, when the minority (those of us considered “not normal” by their standards) swell to the numbers we see around the globe, when there are more people that defy the concept of normal, then a new normal or at least a sharp shift in perspective may just be over the horizon.

What is today’s autism rates? Much larger percentages than most would believe—it’s true. Everyone know seems to someone or have been touched in some way—or knows someone who has. Given the high percentages of late, and the strong genetic links—perhaps, we will be the norm someday in the future?

The world needs more brilliant minds, honest souls, caring hearts, and loving spirits—more “abnormal ones.” We could do with the vampire apocalypse, although, vampires do not scare me; people scare me.

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Jeannie Davide-Rivera

Jeannie is an award-winning author, the Answers.com Autism Category Expert , contributes to Autism Parenting Magazine, and the Thinking Person's Guide to Autism. She lives in New York with her husband and four sons, three of which are on the autism spectrum.

A lot of what they tell us in horror writing is that you have to “rip out the heart before cutting off the head” which basically just means leave people feeling that sense of tragedy along with the fear. I think that’s what makes it the most powerful for me and why I was drawn to it. This stuff is fascinating and thanks for sharing what you guys are working on, your program sounds amazing!

You’re right to point out that horror is subjective. I do consider I Am Legend to be horror, but there are definitely other genres at work here as well. A dystopian future where the world has been reduced to ruin, that definitely has the hallmark of science fiction and even some fantasy. I think that’s one of the reasons why Seton Hill lumps us science fiction, horror, and fantasy writers together under the speculative fiction banner. Each genre is unique with its own hallmarks and expectations, but we’re all cousins in a way, and the works of one can bleed into the other. Take me for example. I consider myself to be a fantasy writer, but my thesis is in the dark steampunk subgenre. The setting deals with a clash between humanity and a collective species they think of as monsters. I figured signing up for a horror class, one specifically focusing on monsters, would only help my thesis. And I am Legend certainly has given me a lot to think about for my thesis.

In a way I suppose one could consider Robert Neville a type of monster through metamorphosis. Unlike a werewolf though his transformation into beast is a slow one, brought on by desperation and isolation. By the end of the book Neville finds that his positions has been flipped. No longer is he a human trying to survive against monsters, but the last monster in the eyes of the new definition of humanity.

I think you bring up a really good point concerning the horror in the novel. I didn’t find the vampires all that scary. There were a few moments when I was worried for Neville, but, overall, the horror does seem to stem from the character himself. One of my major problems with the book was that Neville was a very unsympathetic character. However, that might have been the point. I agree that if this novel contains horror, it stems from his realization that he is a monster to the vampires, who he believes to be the monsters. That being said, as much as I thought the concept of this novel was really unique, I don’t know if making an unlikable and unsympathetic character the one that the reader experiences this story through was a wise decision.

I really enjoyed reading your take on I am Legend. You bring up a valid point that the story is more about what Richard Neville goes through. This little germ turns his life upside down. He loses his wife and his daughter and yet he struggles and fights to survive. I think with all that it shows that there is more to the human condition. That even when the odds are against we will strive to survive until the very end. I got the feeling that this book was also about holding out for hope. Hope that he would find someone to spend his time with. Hope that he was not the last person. Sadly, in the end you are right it is a sad story. The horror was what Neville had to go through to survive and not the germ that change everyone.